E-Commerce and Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

E-Commerce and Information Technology - Essay Example IT implementation, therefore, requires evaluation measures that are effective in order to be successful in implementing the new technologies intended for the organization. Theories have been evolving in recent years that are able to give guidance to an organization in implementing innovations. Technology Acceptance Model Technology acceptance model theory specifies the casual relationship present in system design features, the behaviour of usage and how the toll is easy for usage. TAM predicts the acceptability of a specific tool and any modifications that should be put in place for the tool, to be acceptable by the end users. For an information to be accepted the users will analyse its usefulness and how easy it will be for them to use it. Behaviour intention affects the usage of information systems including the perception of how it is going to be utilised. An individual’s attitude and the impact the tool to be used has on the performance greatly affects the usage of a syste m. It is true to say that if an individual does not welcome the use of information system in the workplace but has perceptions that it will improve work performance; the individual will eventually use the information systems at the end of it all. With TAM, there is a link between what an employee at the work place perceives and the usefulness of the tool to be implemented. The extent to which technology will be used in an organization is mainly caused by technology diffusion;1 moreover, an employee’s ease of use attitude at the workplace will be influenced by a self-efficacy mechanism and his instrumentality. The behaviour and intentions a person creates towards a system will influence the person’s perception about the said system. In some cases, an individual may form a behavioural intention of a system and not necessarily have an attitude towards it. This creates a strong relation between a system that is the self-reported usage and has a perceived usefulness and it affects an individual’s intention. On the contrary, perceived ease of use has a significant effect on the behaviour intention of and individual and it later subsides over a period. Behaviour intention of a person towards a system, therefore, is greatly influenced by its perceived usefulness and the perception of ease of use. DHL Express Finland, in a case study carried out by Kuula and Annu, adopted an IntraShip application in order to improve on their B2B customers who make orders at DHL.2 The orders that were made to DHL gave the customers a number one experience. Shipping orders, being an important part of a company’s daily operations, made the consumers have a high level of usability and the experience they had been varied within a period of 6 months to 7 years. Majority of the users had been using the applications for a period not more than two years and later changed to other service providers other than DHL Express. The customers were satisfied with the changed situation at DHL Express, and it was problematic, but it is also smooth using IntraShip application. The main issue with the customers was the fact that there were issues relating to the ability to learn of IntraShip, and this was regarding facilitating conditions such as training. Even though, the application had certain features that were harder to learn, most customers thought the application was simple and in a matter of time, they would get used to it. Having internet and technology

Latest effort at transparency just muddies water by Carolyn Pugsley Research Paper

Latest effort at transparency just muddies water by Carolyn Pugsley and Alexandra Module - Research Paper Example The article is written by Carolyn Pugsley and Alexandra Module. The main objective of the article is to state the reforms which are adopted by the federal government of Australia in order to disclose the remunerations of seniors executives of companies. This reform has been adopted by the Australian government with the intention of facilitating better transparency for shareholders with respect to the remuneration structures of senior executives. Moreover, this reform will facilitate management of companies with minimum regulatory pressure (Pugsley & Module, 2012). Accounting Theory (Part B) The appropriate theory for this article will be ‘Legitimacy Theory’. This theory states that the remuneration policy of an organisation is conducted in a legitimated manner in accordance with it the board of directors (BOD) of the organisation is required to justify that the remuneration policy adopted by them are according to the company law and Accounting Standards of Australia. Mor eover, the remuneration of BOD of organisations should be justified to the shareholders as well as society. The remuneration policy of senior executives is required to be revealed in order to ascertain that remunerations are provided in keeping with best practices under the code of corporate governance (AFAANZ, 2010). Analysis (Part C) The legitimacy theory signifies that the remuneration policy adopted by companies is in adherence with rules as well as regulations of the government. This theory also states that the financial and annual reports which are prepared by companies are in accordance with accounting standards and company law. In this similar context, the article depicts that the remuneration policy of senior executives will aid in determining that the remunerations as well as rewards which are acquired by senior executives are according to accounting standards. The theory signifies that the remuneration of senior executives should be revealed in an appropriate manner in an nual reports with the motive of depicting the performance of companies to stakeholders. Moreover, the theory assists in minimising pressure on the management as the audit committee is familiar with the regulations of remuneration policy. The article depicts that the amount of remuneration of the senior executives should be revealed in the financial statements or annual reports of companies which will signify the performance of companies among stakeholders and market segments. Companies are required to adopt appropriate remuneration policies which will be legally enacted. The article also reveals that the remunerations of the senior executive should be disclosed in order to ascertain transparency towards shareholders. Moreover, the disclosure of the remuneration policy will assist companies in better regulatory operations (Crombie, 2010). It has been observed from the article that the government of Australia has formulated policy with regard to the disclosure of remunerations of seni or executive. The policy devised by the government is perceived to be complex for auditors as the remuneration report will comprise three segments which include ‘past pay’, ‘present pay’ as well as ‘future pay’. Furthermore, annual reports of companies with excess or decreased incentives and remunerations will portray ineffective performance of companies. Companies should adopt an effective policy of representing remuneration of senior executive which can be linked with the companies’

Supervision Mnagement Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Supervision Mnagement - Essay Example The supervisors or the line managers are more important in organization’s today because they are the ones that directly interact with the employees (Thornhill & Saunders, 1998). To what extent leaders and managers in the hospitality units are able to achieve their goals will be critically analysed here. Performance management requires the evaluation of contemporary theories of human psychology and their application to performance of individuals at work place. According to Brownell (2003), communication is the most vital tool for a manager for improving individual and organizational performance. The hospitality industry is service oriented and service is synonymous with effective communication. It thus becomes important for managers to make their messages clear, to maintain and develop positive relationships with both customers and employees. Performance management requires the managers to ensure that employees’ activities and output are congruent with organizational goals. They need to set standards, assess result and plan for improvement (Schermerhorn et al., 2004 cited by Gross, 2007). A good performance management system can help to reduce turnover, increase productivity, improve individual performance, improve morale, reduce conflict and eliminate gaps and overlaps. In evaluating performance and objective evaluation method should be employed which should be able to pinpoint the areas where improvement is needed. An efficient system can also help to identify the superior workers in the organization. Workers’ participation leads to commitment and improved morale. While supervisory leadership is essential, the supervisor must be able to work together as a team. An effective reward system should be linked to how well each worker meets the performance standards. Since the hospitality industry is volatile and the services have to be changed with the customer demands, it lays stress on the employees. Hence an annual performance appraisal is not

Donald Lipski Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Donald Lipski - Essay Example The reason he gained fame very rapidly and got recognized by the critics and people was that he brought in unique and different pieces of art and sculpture which attracted a lot of people because of its distinctive and exceptional quality. One of his first installations was the â€Å"Gathering Dust† through which he gained great recognition and applause. After which he continued his work and gained many different awards for his outstanding performance and contribution to art. His beautiful works have been placed in various museums. Recently he has started to focus on large scale 3-dimensional figures which have been placed at different public places to increase and enhance the beauty of different public places, one such example is â€Å"The Yearling† which has been placed outside the Denver Public Library (Turner, 107). Another very famous and a beautiful structure is the Psyche- the Butterfly. It is a beauty in its own self. This beautiful structure has been placed in The Auraria Science Building. This large butterfly is made from glass, metal and resin. This structure has been placed at the junction of the old and the new building. The structure makes use of approximately a total of 10,000 test tubes filled with acrylic. The wings are made to slowly swap by the air conditioning system of the building. The test tubes are filled with different colored material and when they swap they cast beautiful colored shadows on the people moving below the structure. The beauty of this amazing butterfly cannot be mentioned and cannot be explained by words. It is just an awe-strucking piece of art. People who view this beauty cannot resist themselves from looking at it again and again and pondering over its magnificence and beauty (Turner, 105). Donald has made other beautiful structures but this great piece of art has not been replaced by any other piece of art yet. This beautiful butterfly is an

Global Warming effect on Hair care Industry Essay Example for Free

Global Warming effect on Hair care Industry Essay â€Å"It is the gradual increase of the temperature of the atmosphere near the earth’s surface as a result of the increase of what we call â€Å"greenhouse gases† since the industrial revolution. Those gases are, water vapor, Carbon Dioxide,Methane,Nitrous Oxides and Ozone† (Global Warming ). This phenomenon is considered a healthy natural procedure because, when the light from the sun hit the earth’s surface reflects off this surface toward space ,but doesn’t easily pass through the greenhouse gases blanket of the earth. Some of the sun’s light and heat are trapped keeping the planet at an average temperature suitable to life, which is about sixty degrees Fahrenheit(Global Warming ). As we said ,Global Warming as a natural process is not harmful, but the growth in industry,agriculture,transportation and technology revolution has produced additional quantities of greenhouse gases along with other harmful substances such as â€Å"Chlorofluorocarbons† or â€Å"The CFCs† (Global Warming ). That made earth’s atmosphere traps more heat and light than it is required, so earth is facing a dangerous future with scientists predictions of high temperature ages to be coming. Global warming has a long term effects on our planet. Some of those results are, Melting of polar ice with a resulting rise in sea level and coastal flooding; disruption of drinking water supplies ;profound changes in agriculture due to climate change; extinction of species as ecological niches disappear; and an increased of tropical diseases(Girardet 19). We may consider some global warming effect as following: †¢ Greenhouse gases are accumulating in earth’s atmosphere as a result of human activities, causing temperatures to rise. Global average temperatures warmed by about 1 ° F in the twentieth century and could increase by 2. 5 ° F to 10. 5 ° F in this century(Speth 56). †¢ Human-induced warming and sea-level rise are expected to continue throughout this century and into the next(Speth 56). †¢ This warming is caused by the cumulative effects of several greenhouse gases that have built up steadily in the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide from fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, methane from fossil fuels and agricultural activities, nitrous oxide from agricultural activities and the chemical industry, and specialty chemicals including CFCs(Speth 56). †¢ Global warming could well have serious adverse societal and ecological impacts by the end of this century, and temperature and sea levels could also continue to rise well into the next century even if societies stabilize the levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere(Speth 56) Hair care industry tools â€Å"Every woman knows how you look is essential to how you feel† (Make a date with your hair 73) No. 1 women magazine â€Å"Cosmopolitan† started an article with that word. Hair dressing is essential to all women on this planet. What ever you men laugh or criticize, they will still go to coiffures and hair dresser all over the world. Also men are not far from hair care. Men nowadays care a lot about how do they look like and hair look became essential for them too. More products are produced and invented every day to help those stylists to accomplish good looking hair cut and a soft ,long and strong hair texture for every woman. Every hair stylist, uses some essential products such as: †¢ Shampoos: They are used in washing and cleaning scalps and hair from dirt and moist. They remove unwanted amounts of oils with substances called â€Å"Surfactants† that produces foam. The most famous surfactants are, â€Å"Sodium Laureth Sulphate† and â€Å"Sodium lauryl sulphate†,which are written on every shampoo bottle. They considered harmful (Burke) . Some kinds of natural oils are used in making shampoos. Anti-dandruf kind of shampoos are using substances like Ketoconazole,Selenium sulfite or ZPT(Doctor NDTV). †¢ Conditioners: They are used in softening hair after washing it with shampoo. Conditioners coat the hair with protective material such as silicone making the hair feel softer, shiny and less likely to tangle. Silicones are the base substance in making conditioner along with natural oils such as shampoos(Burke ). †¢ Hair dryer, curling irons and hair crimpers: Those are electric devices used to dry wet and curling it using hot air blowout . They produce heat and consume more electricity ,and it may cause damage to hair if heat was high. Many kinds of those gadgets are designed to produce more heat to style thick strands of hair(Sloane ). †¢ Hair sprays and hair gels: These products are using many different kinds of polymers used to sustain the hair’s look and keep it stable (Make a date with your hair 73). †¢ Hair dyes: Products that are used to change the color of hair for many weeks. Bleaching is achieved by oxidation with â€Å"Hydrogen Peroxide† (Hocker and Popescu 36). †¢ Hair cut equipments: Like scissors,clippers,electric trimmers, brushes and combs. Every day millions of men and women all over the globe is cutting and brushing their hair. Every time that happen ,lots of hair are lost ,removed and thrown a way. Hair Chemistry â€Å"Biologically, hair is the filamentous appendage on the skin of mammals. Chemically, it is a composite material in which both the reinforcing fibers and the matrix are made of proteins† (Hocker and Popescu 36). Hair fibers, roughly cylindrical with diameters ranging from 10 µm to 100 µm, are multicellular tissues. The heart of the fiber is surrounded by the cuticle, made of plate-like overlapping cells whose heights can reach up to 1 µm. Each cuticle cell has four layers: the epicuticle; the a-layer; the exocuticle; and the endocuticle. Inside the cuticle, the cortex contains spindle-like interlocking cortical cells, with cell membrane complex in-between. Each cortical cell is composed of macrofibrils embedded in an intermacrofibrillar material. Each macrofibril consists of microfibrils, called the intermediate filaments (IF), themselves embedded in an intermicrofibrillar matrix composed of intermediate filament associated proteins (IFAP). Thus, hair is a composite material with a complex dual structure at all levels(Hocker and Popescu 36). In brief, elemental analysis of hair shows, remarkably independently of hair origin, 50wt% carbon, 7wt% hydrogen, 22wt% oxygen, 16wt% nitrogen and 5wt% sulfur(Hocker and Popescu 36). Global warming effects that relate to Hair care industry Global warming especially alarms bioenvironmentalists and social greens, because the three main greenhouse gases (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) arise from core economic activities (automobile use, electricity generation, factories, agriculture, and deforestation),while the main consequences (rising seas, severe storms, drought, and desertification) are beyond the lifetimes of politicians and business leaders—perhaps occurring in 50 to 100 years. And the impacts, when they are most severe, will be mostly felt by the poor, marginalized peoples of the world. Obviously, lowering greenhouse gas emissions will involve major changes to global economic production and consumption patterns (Clapp and Dauvergne 39) not only hair care industry in the near future. It will require, too, governmental, corporate, and personal sacrifices. It’s known now that a huge part of earth’s warming is due to human activity. Humens are destroying the planet and global warming is one way for that. Global warming has many bad effects as we briefed earlyier. It’s more likely to discuss how hair care industry affecting the global warming . It what was announced by Al Gore, American former vise-president and Nobel Prize winner in Bali climate conference held this month that hair cuts and thrown away hair cutting decay, give massive amounts of green house gases, which contributes to the severe global warming crisis. They wanted us to go baldy (Al Gore Finds New cause of Global Warming†). We will discuss how global warming affect the hair care industry with all the climate change criteria and harmful gases found in the air . A different point of view but a remarkable one to study. Environmental scientists predict that, from global warming of 0. 8 °Ã¢â‚¬â€œ2. 0 °C will â€Å"commit† 18–35 percent of animal and plant species â€Å"to extinction† by the middle of the twenty first century (Clapp and Dauvergne 35). Plants are the main source for natural oils and substances used in making hair products such as, Cacao extracts, Grape seed oil, roses, safflower and even bananas. Tropical plants are the most used in this industry. Global warming effect on those plants are very svere, so that hair care products are having problems in getting its raw mterials. Many surfactants for example are derived from plant oils like coconut or palm kernel (Hargreaves). Even if hair products company are saying they don’t use animals in their experiments, they still use them and with the bad effect of climate over different animal species, Those companies will not be able to develop their future products. Global warming is a result of what we called greenhouse gases(Global warming) . Some of them are harmful gases like,Cabon dioxide, nitrous oxides and Ozone(not the ozone type in the upper atmosphere). If we study the situation of every gas we may find that, higher concentrations of carbon dioxide—could mean an even higher rate of extinctions of animal and plants species, because they breathe Oxygen just like we do and as we said before that may lead to less natural products for hair care industry and less development to those products(Clapp and Dauvergne 54). In the air, nitrogen oxide from fossil fuel combustion reacts with volatile hydrocarbons and sunlight to produce smog, a nasty mix of photochemical oxidants, one of which is ozone (Speth 72) and according to hair chemical composition, hair absorbs moisture due to the polar amino acid residues of the inside of the hair (Hocker and Popescu 36), this cause harm to hair, which make it essential to repeat hair treatment processes and it may cause hair and scalp disease. Nitrogen Oxides can also become nitric acid and contribute to acid deposition through acid rains, which also contains harmful substances to hair health (Speth 45) . Acid rain is also a cause for water supply pollution due to rain falling on open water sources such as rivers and lakes, Polluting water sources may directly affect the hair care industry, due to the daily use of water in washing hair for probably every one. Acid rain coming from Nitrogen Oxides may pollute soil, forests, and crops (Speth 86) and of course making the same effect on plants and animals that are essential to hair care industry. Acid rains made thousands of lakes have â€Å"gone acid† (Speth 53), that means any kind of swimming of any of those lakes or water area contaminated by acids may cause hair loss or diseases. After a few years, scientists predict that global warming will cause shortage in universal water supplies . that may cause less water washing habits (Elsworth), less hygiene and of course it may cause diseases. Global warming is making the atmosphere on earth hotter than before (Girardet 19) and sunlight concentration is one of the most harmful effects on human’s health. Skin cancers are believed to be caused mainly by sunlight . Skin cancers may spread over the body even into hair scalp, causing severe hair loss (Armstrong 141-55). Losing hair for both men and women are emotionally destructive, so both of them may use hair wags or artificial hair parts to cover there baldness. Some kinds of skin rashes due to water or air pollution with green house gases may cause hair loss also(Doctor NDTV). Climate change ,high humidity ratios and long time sunlight effects are all factors that can injure the hair or make them very dry (Doctor NDTV)and of course that what would global warming do. Attitudes toward Global Warming and their effects Men and women and even Hair care companies started a new attitude in dealing with global warming and climate change problem. First of all, we must admit that hair care products with all their chemical materials, packaging bottles and even the misusage of these products are a big problem causing more and more environmental threats. Government started putting some regulations and laws to fight global warming increase . Hair products companies that still use harmful ingredients such as ,Sodium Laureth sulphate and sodium lauryl sulphate [they are found to be a cause for some kinds of cancers]( â€Å"SLES†),started searching for natural alternatives to use in shampoos, conditioners and any other products. Companies are increasingly becoming aware of environmental issues . Some companies are now trying to use technology in making hair products with excellent suspending power, low freezing point and wide thermal stability range(-5 ° C to 50 ° C) (Burke ),so that they may survive the global warming bad effects. Companies also targets to make new products with reduced environmental impact over the upcoming years, in an attempt to improve the environmental profile of its products and their packaging materials by reducing CO2 emissions, energy and water consumption used to make those products. Some of those companies continue with some environmental projects like Children’s Safe Drinking Water Program done by PG hair Products Company (Product supplier news). Governments also put under Current pressure to move away from non-renewable petroleum feed stocks and towards plants as sources of raw materials, which has led to a lot of effort on developing surfactants from oleo chemical feed stocks. Many recently-developed surfactants are an attempt to satisfy the modern consumers desire for products to be more natural'(Hargreaves). The elimination of Chlorofluorocarbons (â€Å"Global Warming†) is also another effort to decrease the global warming effect not only on hair care industry but on any other human activity. Many people is trying to avoid using chemicals in their hair care regimes. Instead, they are using natural herbs and oils extracted from organic plants that is planted under observation to avoid pollution. Because of this hard effort to produce such substances, they are sold in high prices, not every one could be able to use those organic products. Also going to hair saloons became unadvisable from many environmental scientists, they are not environment friendly, which cause many to abandon those saloons and of course causing financial lost to many of those hair care branches. Maybe some hair saloons will only specialize in organic and natural products and because of the high prices of their products, only rich people will keep going to them. Bali Climate Change Conference (Al Gore Finds New cause â€Å") declared that haircuts may raise green house gases amount. Maybe in the future, every body is going bald to avoid environmental crisis or even worse, we may be not able to even wash our hair, just like Cate Blanchett (Elsworth) is doing now. Climate is treating our hair badly, let’s all go baldy. Works Cited Global Warming. The Columbia Encyclopedia. 6th,New York. 2004. Clapp, Jennifer, and Peter Dauvergne. Paths to a Green World:The Political Economy of the Global Environment. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The MIT Press, 2005. Surviving the Century:Facing Climate Chaos and Other Global Challenges. Ed. Herbert Girardet. London: Earthscan, 2007. Speth, James. Red Sky at Morning: America and the Crisis of the Global Environment. USA: Yale University Press, 2004.

Wild Horse Round-Up in Nevada Essay Example for Free

Wild Horse Round-Up in Nevada Essay The rounding up wild horses and leading them to their new destination, howbeit, for the slaughter or sales, has created a rift of an US (i.e. particularly; citizens of Nevada) and THEM (i.e. Federal Government, BLM) mentality. The animal activist is citing cruelty to animals and stifling the â€Å"First Amendment, Freedom of the Press†, on the part of BLM. The following article was quoted from USA Today: [A federal roundup of wild horses in Nevada was scheduled to resume Thursday and to continue through this weekend despite nearly two dozen animal deaths since it began. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) says three of the deaths were due to injury and 18 due to severe dehydration following a drought. Horse activist Laura Leigh, whose lawsuit put a temporary halt to the roundup July 14, blames the deaths on the BLM, which she says allowed the horses to become dehydrated and held the roundup during the hottest season of the year. This is foaling season, it could have been done earlier, it could have been done last fall, Leigh says. This is not following the mandate to manage and protect our horses. Its just wrong. She and other activists also complain that the BLM has blocked them from observing the roundups to control the flow of images and public opinion. The BLM will escort up to 20 members of the media and the public to observe roundup operation today and Saturday for the first time since the roundup began July 10. The BLM says the roundup of wild horses is a necessity because the mustang population is growing so fast that horses are running out of food and harming the native land and wildlife. Agency estimates show 38,000 mustangs and burros roam 10 Western states; half are in Nevada. Leigh and other activists say the agency is moving the animals to clear the way for livestock grazing and energy interests. Elliot Katz, founder of In Defense of Animals, which filed a separate lawsuit, says wild horses are a low priority nationally because they dont produce a profit. Theyre just in the way of corporations who have cattle interests or want to do mining, Katz says. Theres been a gradual continuing effort to get rid of them.] (Dorell, 7/29) BLM’s stands its ground by stating they are â€Å"required by law to balance the needs of multiple interests on public lands, including wild horses, wildlife, mining and livestock. Wild horses, which have few predators and double their population every four years, can damage habitat shared by endangered and threatened species such as the pygmy rabbit and the lahontan cutthroat trout, says Heather Emmons, a spokeswoman for the BLM in Nevada.† (Dorell, 7/29) One of the many law suits that have been filed comes out of New Mexico and has gone to the Supreme Court. KLEPPE v. NEW MEXICO, 426 U.S. 529 (1976)  426 U.S. 529 KLEPPE, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR v. NEW MEXICO ET AL. APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF NEW MEXICO No. 74-1488. Argued March 23, 1976 Decided June 17, 1976 The Wild Free-roaming Horses and Burros Act (Act) was enacted to protect all unbranded and unclaimed horses and burros on public lands of the United States from capture, branding, harassment, or death, to accomplish which they are to be considered in the area where presently found, as an integral part of the natural system of the public lands. The Act provides that all such animals on the public lands administered by the Secretary of the Interior through the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or by the Secretary of Agriculture through the Forest Service are committed to the jurisdiction of the respective Secretaries, who are directed to protect and manage [the animals] as components of the public lands . . . in a manner that is designed to achieve and maintain a thriving natural ecological balance on the public lands, and if the animals stray from those lands onto privately owned land, the private landowners may inform federal officials, who shall arrange to have the animals removed. Appellees, the State of New Mexico, its Livestock Board and director, and the purchaser of three unbranded burros seized by the Board (pursuant to the New Mexico Estray Law) on federal lands and sold at public auction, and whose return to public lands had been  demanded by the BLM, brought this suit for injunctive relief and for a declaratory judgment that the Act is unconstitutional. A three-judge District Court held the Act unconstitutional and enjoined its enforcement. Held: As applied to this case, the Act is a constitutional exercise of congressional power under the Property Clause of the Constitution, which provides that Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States. Art. IV, 3, cl. 2. Pp. 535-547. (FindLaw, June) (a) The Clause, in broad terms, empowers Congress to determine what are needful rules respecting the public lands, and there is no merit to appellees narrow reading that the provision [426 U.S. 529, 530] grants Congress power only to dispose of, to make incidental rules regarding the use of, and to protect federal property. Pp. 536-541. (FindLaw, June) (b) In arguing that the Act encroaches upon state sovereignty and that Congress can obtain exclusive legislative jurisdiction over the public lands in a State only by state consent (absent which it may not act contrary to state law), appellees have confused Congress derivative legislative power from a State pursuant to Art. I, 8, cl. 17, with Congress powers under the Property Clause. Pp. 541-546. (FindLaw, June) (c) The question of the Acts permissible reach under the Property Clause over private lands to protect wild free-roaming horses and burros that have strayed from public land need not be, and is not, decided in the context of this case. Pp. 546-547. (FindLaw, June) A law suit filed and made it to the U.S. Courts of Appeals, Federal Circuit was initiated from a rancher family of Fallini who states in the following law suit the cost of the wild horses to them personally: FALLINI v. UNITED STATES Susan L. FALLINI, and Joseph B. Fallini, Jr., in each of the following capacities:  as an individual person and successor to the interest of Helen Fallini as sole heir of Helene Fallini, deceased, executor of the last will of Helene Fallini, and Trustee of the Helene Fallini Living Trust and the  Helene Fallini Living Trust as the sole distributee of the last Will of Helene Fallini, Plaintiffs-Appellants, v. The UNITED STATES, Defendant-Appellee. No. 94-5110. June 08, 1995 Before MICHEL, LOURIE and BRYSON, Circuit Judges. William F. Schroeder, Vale, OR, argued for plaintiffs-appellants.   With him on the brief was William A. Schroeder, of Boise, ID.Peter A. Appel, Attorney, Environment and Natural Resources Div., Dept. of Justice, Washington, DC, argued for defendant-appellee.   With him on the brief were Lois J. Schiffer, Asst. Atty. Gen., John A. Bryson and Dorothy R. Burakreis, Attorneys.   Of counsel was Laura B. Brown, Office of the Sol., Dept. of the Interior, Washington, DC. James L. Huffman, Dean and Professor of Law Director, Natural Resources Law Institute, Northwestern School of Law, Lewis and Clark College, of Portland, OR, was on the brief for amicus curiae, Water for Life, Inc. (FindLaw, June) In this Fifth Amendment â€Å"takings† case, the Fallinis, who are engaged in cattle ranching in Nevada, argue that the federal government has taken personal property from them without compensation.   The Fallinis contend that the government affected a â€Å"taki ng† by requiring them to provide water to wild horses living in the area in which the Fallinis conducted their ranching activities. The Court of Federal Claims ruled against the Fallinis, concluding on motion for summary judgment that they had no property right that was taken by governmental action.  Fallini v. United States, 31 Fed.Cl. 53 (1994).   We conclude that their complaint was not filed within the applicable statute of limitations period and that the complaint should be dismissed on that ground. (FindLaw, June) The suit alleges the wild horses are costing their family approximately $1 million between 1971 and 1991 for the watering of the animals which they have not been allowed by the BLM to fence off the watering areas in such a way to grant cattle access by deny horses from accessing the water supply. In conclusion of the law suit filed by the Fallinis family states as follows: What the Fallinis may challenge under the Fourth Amendment is what the government has done, not what the horses have done. The only governmental action that could constitute a compensable  taking in this case is the governments directive forbidding the Fallinis from shooing the horses away from the water that the Fallinis have produced at their developed water sources.   That governmental action cannot be regarded as recurring with every new drink taken by every wild horse, even though the consumption of water by the wild horses imposes a continuing economic burden on the Fallinis. See Delaware State College v. Ricks, 449 U.S. 250, 258, 101 S.Ct. 498, 504, 66 L.Ed.2d 431 (1980) (proper focus, for statute of limitations purposes, â€Å"is upon the time of the [defendants] acts, not upon the time at which the consequences of the acts became most painful†).   Because the Fallinis identify the enactment of the Wild Free-Roaming Horses and Burros Act as the governmental action that prevented them from fencing the horses away from their water sources, and because they admit that they suffered injury from the date of enactment, their claim must be regarded as accruing long before they filed their present suit. (FindLaw, June) III Based on our analysis of the Fallinis takings claim, we conclude that their claim was time-barred.   We therefore vacate the judgment and remand this case to the Court of Federal Claims with instructions to dismiss the complaint as untimely. (FindLaw, June) Each party shall bear its own costs. VACATED AND REMANDED WITH INSTRUCTIONS BRYSON, Circuit Judge. (FindLaw, June) The round-up of the wild horses is complex with legitimate issues on all sides. I see four distinct (legitimate) sides in this fight. They is the BLM, the animal activist, the media, and the cattle ranchers. The BLM cites it has a legal responsibility to round them up for control of population and preservation of public lands, including wild horses, wildlife, mining and livestock. The animal activists cite cruelty on the method used by the BLM with the time of year the round-ups are conducted to how they are treated while in captivity. The Public News Media cites they are being denied the first amendment right to the â€Å"Freedom of the Press† by being restricted access during the round-ups. Lastly, there is the cattle rancher that is citing a Fourth Amendment violation by the seizure of the water without their permission. Somehow there needs to be a balance of the issue. In my  opinion, the Public News Media doesn’t have a say in the matter because they twist any issue for the selling of their news and that is why they are in the fight. The animal activist have no place in this matter either because they are not any different than the News Media. I see two main players that have a stake in the holdings. The BLM and the cattle ranchers. Those are the two entities that are directly affected by this ordeal. The BLM has to strike a delicate balance of their responsibilities to Federal and State Law and to accomplish this with disturbing anybody’s ZEN. The cattle ranchers are trying to make a living in an economy that is seeing less and less profit. References Dorell, O. (7/29/2010). Federal roundup of wild horses resumes in Nevada. Retrieved from http://http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2010-07-22-wild-horses_N.htm FindLaw. (June 08, 1995). United States Court of Appeals,Federal Circuit, FALLINI v. UNITED STATES. Retrieved from http://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-federal-circuit/1336480.html FindLaw. (June 17, 1976 Decided). U.S. Supreme Court, KLEPPE v. NEW MEXICO, 426 U.S. 529 (1976). Retrieved from http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin-getcase.pl?court=usvol=426invol=529

Indus Motors Company (IMC) Analysis

Indus Motors Company (IMC) Analysis Introduction This Research and Analysis report is based on an analysis of Indus Motors Company (IMC) over a period of three years. IMC is engaged in sole distributorship of Toyota and Daihatsu Motor Company Ltds vehicles in Pakistan through its dealership network. Reasons for Choosing the Topic and the Company: Selecting one project out of twenty available projects by Oxford Brookes University (OBU) was a difficult task. After in-depth analysis of all the available options, I finally selected .The business and financial performance of an organization over a three years period as I used to feel lot more comfortable in this area during my studies and this was suggested by my mentor as well. It was totally in correlation with my studies and during our studies were supposed to excel at accounting techniques like Ratio Analysis and business techniques like Porters Five Forces Analysis and SWOT analysis. Due to a personal interest in automobiles, I choose Automobile Sector of Pakistan which is considered as mother of all industries of Pakistan. The rise in automobile production has resulted from an increased domestic demand and generating over 150,000 direct employment opportunities. For the sake of RAP I selected Indus Motor Company limited (IMC). IMC is a joint venture between the House of Habib, Toyota Motor Corporation Japan (TMC) , and Toyota Tsusho Corporation Japan (TTC) for assembling, progressive manufacturing and marketing of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan since July 01, 1990. Project Objectives Each type of analysis has a purpose or use that determines the different relationships emphasized in that analysis. (Weston Copeland, 1992,pp 178) The objective of this project is to assess the business and financial performance of IMC over a period of three years ending 30th June 2010 and comparison of its performance with one of its competitors, Atlas Honda Limited. The aims and objectives of this research and analysis project are to To analyze the company and the sector in which it exists. To evaluate the performance of the company in terms of: Profitability; to assess a firms ability to create economic value in excess of value expended, to grow, remain solvent and repay debt. To judge the liquidity of the company and evaluate the financial risk. To assess the debt and capital structure of the company by calculating debt equity ratios and interest cover. To carry out the investors analysis in terms of earning per share. To Carry out SWOT analysis. To study the companys market position by using porters five forces model. To conclude the current situation and prospects of companys business and financial position and to suggest the improvements (http://articles.bplans.com) (Accessed 7th April 2010) Research Question In order to ensure my project has the appropriate structure and that I have clear objectives, I highlighted the same questions Shane Johnson (2006) mentioned in his famous article how not to rap myself which states: What is my research question/title of my project? What is the underlying theory? What methods will be used to gather information about the topic? How will the analysis be carried out? What conclusions can be drawn from the analysis? What are the key elements that I should present to my mentor? What have I learned from the process? (www.project-as-practice.org) (Assessed 2nd April 2010) Overall Research Approach I started my project by reading all the information available on the website of ACCA about the OBU degree. After carefully thinking over the available list of projects and consulting with my mentor, I selected The business and financial performance of an organization over a three year period. I started working on the project by setting objectives of the project and by identifying which techniques to be used and I consulted many course and referencing books before start working on the project. Then I started working on the organization by collecting all the relevant data useful for the project. I used secondary sources like newspapers, articles, internet, anylists reports, and annual reports of IMC and the competitor HAL, etc to get the required information. I had to assure reliability of the source of information throughout the information collection process and details of sources were saved by me for the referencing purpose. Meanwhile I conducted three formal meetings with my mentor during working on my RAP. In each meeting I used to show him my research and working till date. My mentor also guided me on various techniques and also referred to few books and resources that were relevant to my research. After completing my project, I had to give my mentor a fifteen minutes presentation on the project, and after his final approval I finally submitted it to OBU. Information gathering and Accounting/Business techniques used 2.1 Sources of Information and Methods used to collect it I had to collect data mainly from secondary sources to undertake the project.. Secondary Data Secondary data is data which has been collected by individuals or agencies for purposes other than those of our particular research study. Source (http://www.fao.org) (Accessed 5th October 2010) I started looking for secondary data from news papers, Companies profile from website, business magazines and journals for competitors and industry reports and industry position of main competitor HAL. Annual Reports were the most reliable source for my RAP and I used audited financial statements for calculating the key ratios relevant to my project and also extract relevant information from annual report to analyze the key strengths and weaknesses of the company. Internet search engines helped me a lot to provide me most relevant and easily accessible information in a timely manner. Information about the overall economic condition of the country and the sector of the company was easily available and was very useful. Companys official website was also very helpful to get the latest authentic information. Some of Analyst Reports with other hard form materials like Business Recorder, daily newspapers etc were also reviewed to benefit from their findings and recommendations. I also used BPP and FTC study material student accountant and refer other management books. Limitations of Information gathering The major limitation about gathering data is that 100% accuracy cannot be guaranteed and there is always a small chance that the source is not reliable and the information gathered is inaccurate. Ethical Issues during Information gathering While dealing with all the information to conduct the RAP I was supposed to strictly follow ACCAs code of ethics. During the research I came across few ethical issues which had to be addressed Research participants must be fully informed about the procedures and risks involved in research and must give their consent to participate; so I had to gain the permission of the people who I was studying to conduct research involving them. Ethical standards also require that researchers not put participants in a situation where they might be at risk of harm as a result of their participation thus I had to be careful about using word sensitive or difficult questions during interviews. Accounting/Business Techniques used and their Limitation I used different business and accounting techniques to conduct my RAP. They are discussed below one by one with their limitations The Ratio Analysis This is the measure of inter relationship between different sections of the financial statements which then is compared with the budgeted or forecasted results, prior year results and or the Industrial results. Profitability For shareholders, employees, creditors, investors, management. Liquidity For shareholders, management, suppliers, creditor and competitors. Efficiency For management, shareholders, creditors and competitors. Gearing For shareholders, lenders, creditor and potential investors. Investment For shareholders, potential investors, management. P2-Corporate Reporting (International) BPP, 2005 pg.223 Limitations Operating and accounting policies differ from firm to firm. Ratios are static and do not consider future trends. Many firms engaged in multiple lines of business so comparing ratios may be meaningless. (Shim Siegel,2007 pp.34) Historical costs not suitable for decision making Different accounting methods may be used by individual firms making up the industry sample. Industry figures may be biased by few large firms within the sample. Different capital structures and size Strategic Business Planning and Development (3.5) FTC, 2005 pg.196. The SWOT Analysis: David (2002), describes SWOT as an analysis that can be used to measure an organizations competencies and identify opportunities to taken by business management in the future. When looking at your strengths, one should make a list of all the things that can be done well. Identify weaknesses as part of SWOT analysis and one will be on the first step to success. One of the places to look for opportunities is we to our competitors. Scanning market, industry or environment for unforeseen threats is an important part of the SWOT process. Limitations of SWOT It can provide useful information about company but as with all toll analysis it will not supply strategic decisions. Strengths and weaknesses may not be readily translated in to opportunities and sometimes in SWOT analysis same factor can be identified as both strengths and weaknesses. A company may also have difficulty identifying opportunities and opportunities may be easy to overlook or may be identified long after they can be exploited. Similarly, a company may have difficulty anticipating possible threats in order to effectively avoid them. (Anthony Henry, 2008) Source 🙠 www.referenceforbusiness.com) (Accessed 15th October 2010) Porters Five Forces Analysis The pure competition model does not present a viable tool to assess an industry. Porters Five Forces model is a tool used by companies that deconstructs the industry structure in to five underlying competitive forces. Bargaining power of suppliers Bargaining power of customers Threat of new entrants The threat of substitutes Competitive rivalry (Nemati Barko, 2001 pp.29) The conventional interpretation of Porters framework emphasized that rivalry and competition as the key components of the strategy. ( Hax wilde,2001 pp.42) Source:(www.articles.bplans.com) (Accessed 26th October 2010) Limitations of Five Forces Model: The model was designed for analyzing individual business strategies. It does not cope with synergies and interdependencies within the portfolio of large corporations. The model does not address the possibility that an industry could be attractive because certain companies are in it. Some people claim that environments which are characterized by rapid, systemic and radical change require more flexible, dynamic or emergent approaches to strategy formulation. P3-Business Analysis: BPP 2008 pg.108 Business Analysis, Conclusion and Recommendations 3.1 Organisations History, Profile Indus Motor Company (IMC) is a joint venture between the House of Habib , Toyota Motor Corporation Japan (TMC) , and Toyota Tsusho Corporation Japan (TTC) for assembling, manufacturing and marketing of Toyota vehicles in Pakistan since July 01, 1990. IMC had sole distributorship of Toyota and Daihatsu Motor Company Ltd Vehicles in Pakistan through its dealership network. IMC was incorporated in Pakistan as a (PLC) in December 1989 and started commercial production in May 1993. The shares of company are quoted on the stock exchanges of Pakistan. Toyota Motor Corporation and Toyota Tsusho Corporation have 25 % stake in the company equity. The majority of shares owned by House of Habib an investment group of Pakistan. IMCs manufacturing plants are located near Karachi which is industrial hub of Pakistan at Port Bin Qasim. Source:(www.toyota-indus.com) (Accesses 30th October 2010) Business Recorder 14th May, 2009 Products: Companys plant in Pakistan is the only site throughout the world where both brands Toyota and Daihatsu are being manufactured.IMCs Product line includes 6 variants of the newly introduced Toyota Corolla, Toyota Hilux Single Cabin 42 and 4 versions of Daihatsu Cuore and newly imported vehicle like Toyota Camry. Source: (www.toyota-indus.com) Source 🙠 www.scribd.com) (Accessed 20th October 2010) The Sectors Overview The Pakistani auto sector has played a significant role in the growth and development of the local economy in terms of revenue generation, foreign exchange, human resource development and technology transfer. Automobiles companies are growing along with industry and all the manufacturers are putting hard efforts to increase their production capacity to meet consumers demands.Prodouction was constant throughout 90s around 45000 but due to consistent policies and increasing power of buyer industry boomed to over 120000 units/annum on just four years to 2003/04. According to the statistics of 2006-07 there were 82 vehicle assemblers in the industry producing passenger cars, light commercial vehicles, trucks, buses, tractors and 2/3 wheelers. Besides these there were over 600 players in the vendor industry. The total employment in the sector was over 192,000 with a total investment of over Rs.98 billion. The auto industry has played a significant role in the large scale manufacturing ind ustry as it contributed $3.6 billion to the economy besides import substitution resulting in annual foreign exchange savings of over $ 1 billion. Source :(www.toyota-indus.com) (Accessed 25th October 2010) The Ratio Analysis: The ratio analysis undertaken is based on the data collected from Annual Reports of Indus Motor Company Limited for the financial year ended 30th June 2010, FY09 and FY08 and that of Honda Atlas Cars (Pakistan) Limited for the finance year ended 31st march 2010,FY 09 and FY 08. . 3.3.1 REVENUE GROWTH The revenue in 2010 according to audited financial reports is 60.09 billion 58.7% higher than in 2009 where as it was 37.84 billion (8.6%) lower than in 2008. (Appendix A) This sharp increase in revenue is mainly due to healthy agricultural income from the farming community and a little increase in auto finance sector.Govt of Pakistan more tightened policy of used imported cars which gives a relief to the industry and the reduction of 5% in excise duty in federal budget 2009/10 which passed to the customers immediately in the form of price reduction. During the year the 2009/10 industry witnessed sharp rise in locally manufactured Passengers and commercial vehicles which grew up to 43% to 141654 units as compared to 99310 units in 2008/09 which lead the production up to 37% higher as compare to 2008/09 and this is mainly because of the Govt tightened policies for second hand imported vehicles. (IMC Annual Report FY10) Profitability Ratios: A class of financial metrics that are used to judge the business capability to generate profits as compare to its expenses and some other relevant costs within a specific period of time. (Kaplan Study Text FR) Shareholder, investors and other stakeholders like management have particularly focused on the profitability of the organisation. These ratios have key importance between majority of stakeholders. Gross Profit Ratio: Gross profit known as the organisation paying additional expenses and savings for coming years also known as gross margin. (Kaplan Study Text FR) In 2010 Gross margin increased to 27.86% as compare to FY09.One of the reasons of this increase is that Pakistan economy showing a modest signs of recovery from recession and sharp increase in demand of passenger and commercial vehicles. Although the gross sales 60 billion RS in FY10 sets all time new records for the company but there is still decline in Gross Margin of (16.12%) when we compare with FY08 where it was 9.3%.The main reasons behind that is the consistent pressure from the Govt to reduce the selling prices, backdrop of rising interest rates,weakning Pak Rupee against YEN, high inflationary conditions, and frequent disruptions to the business cause of shortage of power and terrorist attacks, all of these factors effects the entire supply chain of the company and pushed the manufacturing price to a new highest level and limited the companys ability to pass the increase to the customers. These above mentioned reasons becomes the main reason of erosions of margins. (IMC Annual Report 2010) Honda Atlas gross profit margin had a negative growth in FY10 and reached at (1.5%) as compared to 1.2% and 4.3% in FY09 and FY08 respectively. Where as IMC gross profit had a growth of 28.56% as compare to sharp decline of (34.4%) in FY09. As clear by above data, IMC performance regarding gross profit was far better than its competitor. (Appendix A) Net Profit Margin: Net profit margin measures how efficiently company has controlled its over head. (Kaplan Study Text FR) In highly challenging business environment,IMC has delivered satisfactory financial and operational performance in FY10.The companys net profit increased to 3.44 billion a 54.05% increase as compare to FY09 where it was 1.38 billion a (32.73%) decrease as compare to FY08.The main reasons behind the sharp increase of 54.05% in net profit is due to an incremental increase of 16750 units of Corollas sales volume through extensive marketing efforts. During the FY10 IMC outstandingly reduce their fixed costs which increase the overall profitability despite weakening PAK Rupee and increased manufacturing costs. (IMC Annual Report 2010) When we have a glance at net profit/loss of HAL, the net profit margin decrease to (5.4%) in FY10 where it was (2.8%) in FY09.HAL was having a positive growth of .5% in FY08. Return on capital employed (ROCE): ROCE is a measure that shows how efficiently assets of the company have been utilized to get return from them. It is essentially the net assets of the company. ROCE of IMC has moved in between 19 to 41% between FY08 TO FY10..This is mainly because of massive increase of income of the company in FY10 along with tightened financial controls and efficient and effective management of its various risks exposures. On the other hand HAL utilisation of capital resources are not showing a good picture where ROCE in FY10 had declined to (16.1%) as compare to (9.2%) in FY09 which is mainly because of operating loss of (5.2 billion RS).ROCE was having a positive growth at 8% in FY08. (IMC Annual Report FY10) Liquidity Ratios Liquidity ratios indicate an organisations ability to meet its short term financial obligations. Most commonly evaluated ratios are current ratio and quick ratio calculated as follows. Current Ratio: .IMC was having a ratio high of 2.6 in (FY08).In( FY09) the current ratio fall drastically to 1.7 times. There was a significant increase in current assets in FY09 specially in cash and bank balances which rose from 9664 million to 16715 million and stock in trade from 2637 million to 4088 million but there was a more than proportionate increase in current liabilities from 3779 million to 9884 million mainly due to advances from customers a 628% increase as compare to FY08.The current ratio in FY10 did not improve it remains at FY09 level 1.7 times because of proportionate increase in current assets and current liabilities. (IMC Annual Report FY10) (Appendix A) HAL current ratio was near to 1 in FY08 (.8 times ) which was not as bad because it remains close to industry average of 1.It got worse in FY09 (.7 times) and (.6 times) in FY10 which is not a good indicator for short term creditors. (HAL Annual Reports FY10) Quick ratio: Quick ratio also known as acid test ratio eliminates the effect of inventory from the current ratio. Quick ratio behaves the same way as to current ratio was 1.8:1 in (FYO8) before declining to (1.3:1) in FY09 and remains constant at the same level in FY10.Although there is a sharp increase in current liabilities in FY10 from 9884 million to 1422 million but the current assets on the other hand (excluding inventory) moved almost the same proportion. Over all quick ratio is reasonable and company is in sound position to meet its liabilities from most liquid resources for example cash and bank balances and receivables. (IMC Annual Reports FY10) (Appendix A) Quick ratio of HAL is very low as to industry average and remains constant for the past three years at (0.20:1).This shows that HAL is not having enough liquid resources to pay its current liabilities even. This low current ratio can be seen as the going concern problem for HAL in near future if this situation sustain as it is. (HAL Annual Reports FY10) (Appendix B) Overall liquidity condition of IMC is far better than that of HAL. Working Capital Ratios Working capital ratios also known as efficiency ratios reduce the risk for lenders and enable management to increase the productivity and business profits. (Kaplan Study Text FR) Days Accounts Receivable: IMC receivables days decreased from 12 days in FY08 to 17 days in FY09 and decreased further to 10 days in FY10.This reduction in receivable days pointed towards the better effective and controlled credit policy. HAL on the other hand does not have trade debts at all in their balance sheet. This reflects their policy to only deal in cash. Days Accounts Payable: Creditor turnover ratio shows how many days an organisation takes to pay its short term obligations and how much it depends on trade credit for short term financing. (Kaplan Study Text FR) Creditor turned out cost of sales in FY10 is 39 days almost at the same level in FY09 but increased when we compare with FY08 where it was 28 days. This improvement in payments pointed towards the strong and healthy relationship with lenders and suppliers of raw material and longer the days payable better for the cash flow. (Appendix A) HAL days accounts payable increased significantly 79 days to 124 days between FY08 and FY10.Taking in account of HAL current year financial performance it is apparent that company is struggling to pay its creditors and taking too long as compare to its main competitor IMC which is not a good news for creditors and shareholders as well. (Appendix B) Debt/ Solvency Ratios IMC is All-Equity Company with a zero long-term debt. This is a plus point in the current economic situations as company doesnt have to pay fixed cost of interest on long term borrowings. (IMC Annual Report FY 10) Gearing Ratio: As being all equity funded IMC manages to perform well in the crucial economic time and leave its competitors behind.IMC does not have any long term debt included in their capital structure making companys gearing ratio nil. On the other hand it has some disadvantages as well, the companys capital structure is not at optimum level and company is ignoring cheap sources of finance (long term debt) as to equity. (Appendix A) HAL is not all equity financed company and have long term debts on their balance sheet which results in a high finance costs. These high finance costs pushed company from profits into losses.HAL gearing level increased from 35% to 105% between FY08 and FY09 this increase was mainly due to increase in debt which rose from 500 thousands to 1500 thousands. The ratio decline to 93% in FY10 but still high as compare to industry norms. (Appendix B) This high gearing ratio could cause serious liquidity problems and could seen as a going concern threat but the parent company Honda Motors Japan will continue to provide the liquidity support to HAL and on that basis directors does not see any threat of this serious liquidity problems as a going concern threat and company will carry on its operations in foreseeable future. (HAL Annual Reports FY10) Interest Cover Ratio: Interest cover shows how many times, the profit before interest and tax covers interest amount. Its a measure of how adequately company profit could cover up its interest payments on debts. (Kaplan Study Text FM) IMC results are very healthy and reached at the level 1284 time in FY08 mainly because of very low finance charge of RS 2.7 million. It reduced drastically in FY09 from 1284 times to 78 times mainly because of enormous increase in finance charge from 2.7 million to 26.5 million due to loss on revaluation on foreign exchange contracts, sharp increase in mark up on advance from customers which rise from 2.8 million from FY08 to 8.8 million in FY09 , and high interest rates. It is at its all time high in FY10 at 1467 times. The main reasons behind that impressive increase are the best ever financial performance of the company and reduction in finance cost through unrealised gain on revaluation of foreign exchange contract of 96 million approximately which is quiet commendable as it guarantees good rating of the company. (Appendix A) (IMC Annual Reports FY10) Interest cover ratio at HAL was positive but very low at 1 time in FY08 before got worse in FY09 at (2) times in (FY09) and remains constant at the same level in FY10. It shows that company is facing difficulties to meet its long term financial obligations. These drastic results of profitability ratios of HAL could threaten its credibility to raise more finance in near future. (Appendix B) (HAL Annual Reports FY10) Investors Ratios: The earnings per share (EPS) of a company indicates profit after tax attributable to equity shares of a company. (Kaplan Study Text FR) The EPS of IMC was RS.29.15 in FY08 before dropping down to RS. 17.62 in FY09 due to fall in earnings of the company because of recession in the overall automobile market globally and locally. However (EPS) up by 138% from RS.17.62 to RS.41.9 due to highest ever car sales of 50.8k units as compared to 34.1k units in FY09.IMC achieved 100% capacity utilization of its manufacturing plant since it started its operations in FY10. This is due to increasing liquidity in rural areas and Govt institutions that continued buying Corolla. These increased and recovered car sales remained one of the main reasons behind such a high growth in earnings. Due to increased car sales,liquidity position improved as company was having 16 billion cash on its balance sheet as compare to 9.7 billion in FY09.Company invested this surplus cash in high yielding bank deposits which becomes the main reason of significant increase in other income from RS.727 million to RS.1.25 billion in FY10 and increased the ove rall earnings of the company. (Appendix A) Source:(www.dailytimes.com.pk) Assessed:( 10th November 2010) HALs EPS declined more in FY10 to (RS.5.97) from (RS.2.81) in FY09.This was due to loss after tax of (RS.852.2 million) in FY10.The main reasons attributed to the loss are under utilisation of capacity and depreciation of Pak Rupee as to Japanese Yen.HAL did increase the sale prices in line with the market condition to overcome these problems but this was not enough for complete recovery.EPS was RS.55 in FY08. (Appendix B) (HAL Annual Report FY10) The SWOT Analysis: SWOT Analysis is a strategic planning method used to evaluate the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats involved in IMC. Strengths: IMC is a joint venture between House Of Habib and Toyota Tusho Corporation LTD Japan. Toyota is a global organization with representation of more than 170 countries . Toyota has becomes the industry leader for maximizing profits through lean manufacturing system and waste reduction methods.IMC has a very well experienced, talented and diversified management team and IMC has the strongest dealership network within the country and during the FY10 a new 3s dealership was launched in Lahore and Faisalabad to strengthen the business with this addition IMC dealership consists of 32 outlets throughout the country with market share of 34.5%.IMC commitment to provide excellent customer services have been acknowledged by Toyota Motor Corporation and awarded the Customer Service Excellence Award 2009. (IMC Annual Report FY10) Source : ( www.oppapers.com) (www.toyota-indus.com) Assesses 🙠 12th November 2010) Weaknesses; IMC is all equity financed company with zero long term debt.IMC financial results for FY10 for sales and profits are at all time high however it is not likely that company will carry on the same momentum for near future. Moreover company is not investing considerably in new projects and plants.IMC is utilizing its manufacturing capacity at full and unless the margins increased significantly or they increased their capacity by installing new manufacturing plants it will be quiet likely that the earning momentum will not be the same as FY10. Source 🙠 www.dailytimes.com.pk) Assess 🙠 15th November 2010) Opportunities : Pakistan automobile industry for LCV and PC is growing at the rate of 43%. In Pakistan context there are 8 cars in 1,000 persons which is one of the lowest in the emerging economies which itself speaks of high potential of growth in the auto sector and more in the car production. Rising per capita income with changing demographic distribution and an anticipated influx of 30 to 40 million young people in the economically active workforce in the next few years provides a stimulus to IMC to expand and grow.As the environmental protection awareness is rising in Pakistan slowly, IMC has the opportunity to introduce Hybrid cars in Pakistan to meet the needs of environment friendly people. (IMC Annual Report, FY10) Source :(www.nationmaster.com) Assess :(16th November 2010) Threats: Pakistan domestic auto industry has barely started recovery from global financial crunch and currently facing lots of challenges.Govt has recently signed Afghan Transit Trade Agreement and it is very important to implement the agreed safeguard otherwise it would cause a serious threat to t